Newsletter #101 : Human Firewalls and Authentic Leadership

  CTO ACADEMY  

Sunshine greetings from Madrid

Welcome again to the 5 Minute Tech break and our curated look at topics of interest to you in your roles as technology leaders.

This week we’ve been joined by my colleague Sanjay with an interesting article about creating your own personal firewall and we also include a look at leadership lessons.  I for one always soak up this kind of insight to sense check and learn against how other leaders operate.

It’s beautiful May sunshine here in Madrid and whilst the vaccine rollout begins to pick up pace in the UK and elsewhere, a large % of our community are in countries still suffering badly so we extend our best wishes for a safe weekend and future, to you and your loved ones …

  NEWS & VIEWS  

Articles That Caught Our Eye This Week

The 4 Steps to Building an All-Star Leadership Team… It’s no secret that the right team can make magic happen, whether it’s on the basketball court or in the creative confines of a growing business. However, it’s one thing to cobble together a team. It’s a completely different story when you assemble a team of like-minded individuals who, when their powers are combined, conjure success. Jason Hennessey suggests starting to consider your team as the oxygen of your company.

Are you an Authentic Leader? … How many of you feel lost in a sea of leadership advice? Every month a new article or book is published, and they all promise to reveal the secret to being a great leader or manager. “Just buy this book, take this course, or watch this webinar, and you will instantly emerge a capable leader”…. There are so many voices screaming that they have the answers, and if you listen to them all, you end up more confused than when you began. So, which voice do you trust to help you navigate difficult situations as a leader?

Rearchitecting for MicroServices: Featuring Windows & Linux Containers…First, let’s recap the definition of what a container is – a container is not a real thing. It’s not. It’s an application delivery mechanism with process isolation. Jessica Deen explains that Windows Containers are a great way to utilize the benefits containers offer (smaller footprint, faster startup time, better performance than a traditional VM, and easier to maintain than VM environments), and reduce the amount of time needed initially to refactor your application.

12 Leadership Lessons from GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani… Jason Nazar asked the CEO of GoDaddy, Aman Bhutani, to share some of his incredible wisdom. With more than 20 million customers worldwide, $3 billion in revenue and an average customer retention rate greater than 85 percent, the company empowers everyday entrepreneurs.  According to Bhutani, there is a standard equation for being successful in your career. You need to have a certain amount of intelligence, be hardworking and collaborative, and last but not least it also helps to have a certain amount of luck.

  BOOK OF THE WEEK  

Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell

Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell  This book divulges how Bill Campbell played an instrumental role in the growth of several prominent companies, such as Google, Apple, and Intuit, fostering deep relationships with Silicon Valley visionaries, including Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt.

In addition, this business genius mentored dozens of other important leaders on both coasts, from entrepreneurs to venture capitalists to educators to football players, leaving behind a legacy of growing companies, successful people, respect, friendship, and love after his death in 2016.

“Bill Campbell comes across a wise, wonderful man who uses trust, courage, and empathy to bring out the best in everyone around him. He was an incredible listener who cared deeply about the well-being of his team. The book is easy, light read—I flew through it in a couple of sessions. Recommended for anyone interested in becoming a more successful and compassionate leader”

Seats are selling for the first of our live masterclass series – How to build a tech strategy, Aligned to the business plan, please use the click on the banner below to reserve your place.

In June we have – The Art of Negotiation and How to Always Win:Win with a fantastic pipeline of topics building up through the rest of the year so, stay tuned.

Places are limited to just 20 tech leaders per masterclass so that everyone gets the opportunity to learn, engage and share with the host and cohort.

Find out more via the links below ….

CTO Academy Tribes is our group coaching and peer-2-peer support programme.

During May we will be launching cohorts for experienced, early stage and aspiring CTOs.